Mini-nuclear power plant: France may invest hundreds of millions

France has been granted 300 million euros to support the development of mini-nuclear power plants by domestic company Nuward. The EU Commission approved the aid on Friday, which is intended to advance the research and development of small modular reactors. The money will be granted as a subsidy to Nuward, a subsidiary of Electricité de France (EDF), until 2027.

Without the state support, Nuward would not invest in the research and development project, the Commission explained its decision. In addition, 300 million euros is appropriate, as the amount corresponds to the actual financing needs and there are sufficient safeguards to ensure that competition is not unduly distorted. "The Commission has therefore approved the French measure under EU state aid rules," the competition authorities stated.

Nuward has already received state aid once

Nuward wants to "develop processes for the design and construction of SMRs with a simple, modular design and a maximum output of 300 MWe", explained the EU Commission. The project is now entering the third of a total of five project phases.

The Commission had already approved French aid of 50 million euros for the second project phase in December 2022. The aim of this phase was to gain new insights into the design and construction of SMRs. The French government is now funding "the sizing of SMR modules and components and the validation of their integration into reactors using numerical simulators and laboratory tests". Nuward also wants to carry out industrialization studies on the modular design and mass production of SMRs and prepare the necessary safety certificates for the nuclear regulator.

Strict rules

If the state intends to support a company with money or tax benefits, for example, very strict rules apply in the EU. This is intended to prevent competition from being distorted and, for example, one EU country helping a company to force a competitor from another country out of the market.

In this case, the EU Commission believes that a new economic sector is being developed. The aid has an incentive effect, as Nuward would not invest in SMR without the aid. The subsidized research and developments focus on technologies that are not immediately marketable, are at a very advanced stage and are only suitable for industrial introduction in the long term. Competition would therefore not be unduly distorted.

French President Emmanuel Macron is backing mini-nuclear power plants. In October 2021, he announced his intention to invest around one billion euros in the development of SMRs by 2030. SMRs are reactors with an output of up to 300 MWe, whose essential components of a primary circuit are contained in a single module. This should enable these reactors to be manufactured and transported in a single factory.

(anw)